Results Are In!

The Press is Taking Stock of the Contemporary Sales

Sotheby’s

From the report of the Master, Judd Tully:

“I think the market is continuing its onward march, blissfully ignorant of all the turmoil in the financial markets,” said New York private dealer Christopher Eykyn. “It certainly hasn’t been a bad investment so far.”

A big part of Sotheby’s success came from the fresh and highly sought-after material from the collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs from Krefeld, Germany, which made a total of £18,983,000, double its high pre-sale estimate of £8.9 million. The entire collection was guaranteed.

Throughout this hugely successful session, many bidders appeared to be acting in a kind of blissful trance, as if taking part in a fun game and occasionally breaking into applause when large prices were being paid.

Mountaineers know only too well the giddiness that can be induced by the rarefied oxygen in unaccustomed high altitude. It is then, when reaching the summit seems just one step away, that losing one’s foothold becomes a much dreaded possibility.

“People are more interested in quality than price,” London dealer Serge Tiroche said. “In the old days they used to look at a work’s size and period. Now they’re looking at aesthetics.”

“If you’ve got quality and provenance, it pays off,” said Paris-based art adviser Hugues Joffre. “There was a mood created by the success of the Lauffs Collection in New York. People are also reassessing the work of artists like Klein.”

Phillips de Pury

“My expectations were much higher,” said Michael McGinnis, head of contemporary art for Phillips, speaking moments after the sale in the firm’s stunning new quarters, “and I have no reason to give you. It was a total curveball.”

Christie’s

“Almost all of our guarantees were profitable,” said Marc Porter, president of Christie’s. “The market ended up being as strong as we hoped it would be.” The evening’s top three lots all had guarantees.